Pregame at Comerica

Ken Macha said he got a call from Terry Francona after the A’s loss in Game 3. It was a missed message on his cell phone, but the Boston Red Sox’ manager did contact the A’s venerable clubhouse man, Steve Vucinich. Seems he was just passing along some encouragement — the old “one game at a time” theory — for a team down 3-0 in the American League Championship Series, Francona’s Red Sox having pulled off the four-straight miracle in 2004.

You won’t find any such prediction here, not the way the the A’s have played against Detroit, but there is a way they can get back to Oakland. It would go something like this:

Frank Thomas finally shows up today. He hits a bomb into the left-field bleachers, early, and changes the entire mood of the series. Milton Bradley does something highly noticeable — a great throw, a diving catch, a triple to right-center — and further ignites the A’s bench. Dan Haren stands up to the pressure and the A’s do just enough damage against Jeremy Bonderman, who had a 14-8 record this year but also posted a 4.08 ERA with as many hits allowed (214) as innings pitched.

Then it gets a little easier. It’s perfectly feasible to imagine Barry Zito outdueling Nate Robertson in Game 5, providing Thomas, Bradley or Eric Chavez — preferably all three — make some contributions. The A’s were shut out over five innings by Robertson in Game 1, but in four of those five innings, they had people batting with two runners on.

Just a pointless dream? Probably. But it’s within the realm of possibility. Where I’d have a problem with the comeback would be Game 6 in Oakland, assuming the A’s pitch Esteban Loaiza against Justin Verlander. That’s a crushing loss waiting to happen.

When the A’s braintrust established the postseason rotation, moving Loaiza to the front and Rich Harden to the back, they said they “knew what we were going to get” from Loaiza. Right, and I was thinking, “That ain’t good.” I’ve never been a fan of Loaiza, stating early in the season that he’s not someone you’d want pitching a big game, and he hardly distinguished himself after Game 2, basically absolving himself of any blame (he gave up seven earned runs in six innings, for crying out loud) and suggesting that Chavez should have made a key play behind him.

That kind of attitude doesn’t go over too well in a big-league clubhouse. Chavez had too much class to fire back, but he did say, after Rich Harden’s Game 3 performance, “If we’d had this outing the other day (Game 2), we’d have won the game.”

It would be fascinating to see the A’s in a Game 6 situation. I’d go with Joe Blanton in a heartbeat; we’ve seen enough of Loaiza. But I wouldn’t give either of them a chance against Justin Verlander, who has twice pitched brilliantly on the road in the postseason. And if Joel Zumaya were to be available, after resting his tender forearm/wrist injury through the frigid weekend in Detroit, the Tigers’ bullpen would be set up for the kill.

All right, so much for speculation. You pin me down, I’ve got the Tigers wrapping things up today. Pudge Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez, their best-known hitters, step to the front. It’s a gorgeous afternoon, by the way, bright and clear with some gusty winds, not nearly as cold as it’s been the last two days.

It’s going to be a great day for the game of baseball in any event. An A’s win would do wonders for their collective psyche, and the Tigers are eminently deserving of their first World Series appearance in 22 years.

3-BLOGGING: For those wondering about Loaiza’s contract status, he has two years remaining on a three-year deal . . . Bradley has received some positive press during the postseason, and that’s a switch for him, but he still doesn’t feel respected. Although he conducted a calm, thoughtful interview after Game 3, his first words were, “You want to talk to me? Where’s Thomas, Chavez, Swisher? I don’t exist.” . . . Grim assessment from Chavez: “We’ve run into a better team. I don’t have any problem saying that.” . . . Add up his performances against the Yankes and A’s, and Kenny Rogers has pitched 15 consecutive scoreless innings, all of them accompanied by a raging intensity that feels new even to him. Rogers came back on the field for an interview after Game 3 and was nearly in tears. “I wish sometimes I could step outside my body while it’s all going on,” he told reporters, “and take a seat and just watch, soak it all in. I’m really trying to use that emotion and that aggresiveness and feed off of it, and it’s making me a better pitcher.” This from a guy who turns 42 next month . . . To say the least, manager Jim Leyland wasn’t encouraged when he saw Zumaya wearing a plastic covering (a precautionary measure) over his wrist. “It’s not a good feeling for a manager,” Leyland deadpanned, “When you see your pitcher with some type of device on his hand.”

The death of Johnny Callison brought to mind a golden age of outfielders in the National League. Watching baseball in the 50s and 60s, everyone knew that Henry Aaron, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente were bound for the Hall of Fame. For some observers, just put those three guys in your all-time outfield and be done with it. Callison, the marvelous five-tool star of the Philadelphia Phillies, was in the second tier with Vada Pinson, Lou Brock, Curt Flood, Billy Williams, Tommy Davis and Felipe Alou. Technically, if you include stars who played the outfield, you could add Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey, each of whom played some left field (not particularly well) for the Giants . . . Commissioner Bud Selig told reporters in Detroit that he wants to make life a little more difficult for wild-card teams in the postseason. Right now, such teams get two home games in the first-round format (best-of-five), just one less than their opponent. Selig would like to reduce it to one game, although that would make for an awkward travel setup. How would it work? One home game for the wild card, then four in the other park? A 2-1-2 format? Less than ideal, in any case.

Selig also says he’d like to see at least one World Series game played during the day, although the ratings-obsessed buffoons in network television probably wouldn’t allow it. In a perfect world, the first two games of the Series (on a Saturday and Sunday) have 1 p.m. local starts, followed by three night games during the week, then two more afternoon affairs for Games 6 and 7 . . . How’s this for managing: In just three games against Oakland, Leyland has given a start to all of his position players except backup catcher Vance Wilson. And who could imagine a manager winning consecutive postseason games with three different shortstops (Carlos Guillen, Neifi Perez and Ramon Santiago)? Who starts there today, Mickey Stanley? . . . The Tigers’ lineup may not strike veteran observers as vintage World Series material, but relatively weak batting orders have become commplace since the turn of the century. In terms of offensive punch, nobody ever ranked the 2000 Mets, 2001 Diamondbacks, 2002 Angels, 2003 Marlins or 2005 Astros with the all-time greats.

If the A’s get swept by Detroit, it would hardly be a historical breakthrough. For all of their postseason success, the A’s have been blown out before. In terms of shock value, though, only the 1990 World Series would compare. A recap:

1971: Swept in three by Baltimore. The Orioles were an exceptional team, coming off a World Series title, and the A’s were a year away from taking over the American League. They were also competitive in two of these three games.

1975: Swept in three by Boston. This was one of the Red Sox’ best-ever teams, bound for a classic World Series against Cincinnati, and the A’s dynasty was ending. At least one of their hitters showed up: Sal Bando went 6-for-8 over the last two games.

1981: Swept in three by the Yankees. Billy Martin’s A’s had a hell of a run, sweeping Kansas City in the strike-created “mini-series,” but this result surprised no one. The Yanks scored three runs in the first inning of Game 1 and won it, 3-1, then coasted to wins of 13-3 (Lou Piniella homered) and 4-0 (behind Dave Righetti and Goose Gossage).

1990: Swept in four by Cincinnati in the World Series. To this day, nobody can figure this one. The 1989 A’s were considered one of the most powerful and well-balanced teams in history, and the heart of that club was returning. Dave Stewart failed to win either of his starts, and the A’s got just one homer combined from Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.

Interestingly, the A’s have never staged a dramatic comeback in their long history of postseason series. The only plausible entry would be the 1973 World Series, when they trailed the Mets 3-2 but won the final two games at the Coliseum.